Aurora economic-development chief Wendy Mitchell, left, and Gaylord Entertainment CEO Colin Reed make a presentation for state tourism funding during a March meeting before the Colorado Economic Development Commission.

A bill to expand a state tax incentives program for tourism projects moved ahead in the Colorado House on Thursday but may run straight into the veto pen of Gov. John Hickenlooper.

Hickenlooper, a Democrat, has serious problems with Senate Bill 124, his office said. In a highly partisan debate, the Republican-led House gave the bill initial approval on a voice vote and must approve it on a recorded vote before it can be sent to Hickenlooper’s desk.

But the reception from the governor doesn’t look to be a warm one.

“We have been, and remain, concerned about the bill unless it is amended,” said Eric Brown, Hickenlooper’s spokesman.

The governor’s office said there needed to be more oversight provisions and metrics proving the economic benefits and showing that dollars generated from Regional Tourism Act projects come from out-of-state visitors.

Sen. Ted Harvey, R-Highlands Ranch, the sponsor of SB 124, said a veto would be ironic from a governor who toured the state looking for “bottom-up” economic development ideas.

“This is the best bill in the legislative process this year to do just that, and he’s threatening to veto it,” Harvey said.

A veto also could be bad news to six communities across the state seeking funding for tourism projects under the RTA, the 2009 law passed that allows up to $50 million for as many as two, large-scale tourism projects a year, with a total cap of six over three years. The law allows sales tax-increment financing to fund infrastructure projects for the tourism projects.

SB 124 would remove the two-per-year cap and allow all six projects to be funded at once, provided they are approved by the state’s Economic Development Commission.

Projects seeking funding include a conference center and hotel in Aurora, a sports and “prehistoric park” in Douglas County, redevelopment of the historic Elkhorn Lodge in Estes Park, riverfront development in Glendale, multiple projects in Montrose County and riverwalk enhancements in Pueblo.

Harvey noted that his bill passed the full Democratic-led Senate on a 26-8 vote, with 12 Democrats voting in favor. But the measure ran into full-scale Democratic opposition in the Republican-controlled House on Thursday, with House Democrats calling it “corporate welfare.”

Democrats pointed to state analyses that have questioned whether the six projects will really bring in the revenue claimed, and they argued that the projects subvert the intent of the 2009 law to build attractions that would bring tourists from other states.

Instead, the projects now “are just going to be cannibalizing Colorado tourists from my district, from your district,” Kerr told fellow lawmakers Thursday, “and moving them to a different part of the state.”

Hickenlooper favored Kerr’s bill being amended onto SB 124. Though Kerr’s bill first cleared a House committee on a 9-2 vote, it later died on a 7-6 party- line vote in another committee.

Rep. B.J. Nikkel, R-Loveland, the House sponsor of Harvey’s bill, said Democrats who called the Regional Tourism Act “corporate welfare” were misguided.

“If they think that creating jobs is corporate welfare, we have a very distinct philosophical difference of opinion,” Nikkel said.

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